A classic. One of those magic films in which everything works. The casting is a miracle: Dietrich and Cooper, the hottest couple in film history. Marlene never was better than in this film (well, in Shangay express perhaps), even if she looks too big (anyway not as much as in Der blaue engel). It retains the atmospheric brilliance and fascination of that famous (and overrated) first collaboration. Improuvements since that film: much better rhythm (the main problem with Der Blaue Engel, which at times looks completely dead), it gives more importance on gestures, faces and PEOPLE (not just icons or characters). One wonderful song and one of the best love scenes in all history (the one in the bedroom with Cooper playing with a fan and Dietrich showing her legs, neither of them were ever better than in here). The ending is appropriate, and you feel that after all that beauty and magical scenes, in that one hour and a half three people have changed, they just have a different attitude in life and a better understanding of what they need and what they look for). From my point of view the other masterpiece by Sternberg-Dietrich is Shangai Express.
